Heart attacks and mondays always get me down

Reports on the cases of arrhytmias or irregular heartbeats in men being common on Mondays. Heart attacks in retired men; Psychological factors that may trigger cardiac problems.

By Peter Doskoch, Carol Potera, published on March 01, 1997

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Here's yet another reason to hate Mondays: You never really escape their grasp. Several years ago scientists discovered that on-the-job heart attacks are most common on the first day of the workweek. Now it appears that Mondays' effects linger even after we retire. According to the University of Maryland's Robert Peters, M.D., retired men suffer twice as many arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, on Mondays as they do on Sundays. Although usually harmless, arrhythmias can escalate into heart attacks.

Psychological factors often trigger cardiac problems, says University of Kentucky cardiologist James Muller, M.D., so it makes sense that the incidence of arrhythmia rises and falls with our emotions over the course of the week. "Monday has a different ring to it than Sunday," he says, "even when you're retired."

Edited by Peter Doskoch